When writing poetry what is the purpose of rhyming?

Answer 1

Rhyming makes a poem sing, and singing makes it more memorable. It's not "just the way they do it", it's a tool in the same way metre and imagery are used in valid free verse.

Not all words put on paper are poetry.

Answer 2

brujero, as well as other responders, had some good points. However, it isn't exactly true that other languages don't rhyme as easily as English. In fact, most of the romantic languages rhyme "far more easily" because so many of their words have similar vowel endings.

That being said, the question you asked was "what is the purpose of rhyming?" The answer is two fold:

1. Rhyming creates mneumonics, or tricks to make it easier to remember something. When a reporter/poetry critic asked Rudyard Kipling what he thought about this new form of poetry called "Free Verse", old Rudyard replied, "I'm not sure, why don't you recite me some?" His point was that no matter how "good" unrhymed poetry may be, it is far less memorable.

2. Rhyming sounds tickle the brain. You realize this when you're a kid and you make up all sorts of "rhyming" games (rhymin Simon, etc.). Why? You don't necessarily like "poetry", you just like the way rhymed words play off one another...which is why you called your friends "skinny minnie" and "pretty polly" and "jumpin Jack", or even "ready Freddie". Your ear still enjoys rhyming sounds (you often even vote for them or buy products because of the resonance of the words in your head), especially when your ear hears a sound that it wasn't expecting, but fits the rhyme pattern.

The trick of rhyming is to fit the "style" to the subject. You'd never use a sing-song rhyme at a funeral, nor would you write a dirge for a young child's playtime song. Certain rhymes ring truer when done the right way, and some rhymes sneak a serious image into the mix by using what appears to be the wrong style for the subject....as in the following:

Johnny was a little boy
But Johnny is no more
For what Johnny thought was H20
Was H2SO4!

Here you have a nursery rhyme style poem that implies the death of Johnny because he drank Sulfuric Acid that he thought was Water. The fact that it uses chemical names clues you in to the fact that it really wasn't made for children, but because it's written in that style, you're fooled into thinking it's about something light...until you get to the punchline and see its darker meaning...which is why I still remember this poem after seeing it once, in a chemistry class, almost 40 years ago!

So...anything that can make you remember something so permanently has clearly shown it's purpose.

Hope this answers your question.

Answer 3

The previous responses all have valid points. There are a lot of possible answers for why rhyming came into use. One has to do with the cultures that produced the poetry, and when the work was created.

Poetry, in various forms, existed in many ancient cultures even before those cultures had written languages, much less the ability to mass produce and publish literature. The oral tradition used to pass along the poetry (including scripture, religion, history, and philosophy) , depended on the accuracy of human memory. Rhyming made memorization more memorable.

The the development of written language is a relatively recent event in the big picture of human history. The printing press is even more recent. We can take for granted that any poem ever written that has survived, is instantly available in a library if not on-line. In modern times, we've shifted from consuming poetry with our ears, as our ancestors did, to consuming it with our eyes. Rhyming is less important to our memory, because we now use text and print instead of memory.

As a former, and possibly future teacher of English lit, I agree with the other response that favored rhyming. I've read tons of unrhymed poetry, which basically reads like,...oh, a sentence or something. Good rhyming indicates to me a craftier approach to writing.

It should be noted that some languages don't concern themselves with rhyme at all, owing somewhat to the fact that their languages have so few words that rhyming may be impossible in some cases. English has more words than almost any other language, and it's so riddled with synonyms and homonyms that rhyming is much easier.

Sorry for the long-winded response.

Answer 4

Some of my best poems rhyme and some of my best poems don't rhyme. When I begin to write a new piece I don't really ask myself if I will rhyme or not. The topic and my depth of feeling seem to dictate to me, rather than me dictating to them, whether rhyme will be used or not. Other answers also made good points. This is just my added perspective as a writer.

ADDED: The purpose of rhyming, from my point of view, is to use rhyme to help communicate how and what I feel. If rhyme is not appropriate, I don't use it. That's why I get so bent out of shape when critics on YA say "I hate rhyme" or "Use rhyme" or "If poems don't rhyme they aren't poems" etc. All of that misses the point. Rhyme is like dressing for an occassion. If you think about it, it makes sense. You dress differently for joining friends for grilling hamburgers than you would dress for a wedding. It's like the difference between free verse and rhyme. One is casual, the other is somewhat more formal. I rest my case.

Answer 5

it's hard to write a rhymed poem--often rhymes are forced.
if you stick with a long pattern, like ABCDBCA, instead of triplets or couplets, it won't be so apparent. you can try off-rhyme, such as rhyming "hawk" with "took" or "thing" with "gong" for example.
in the days of yore rhyme was used as device to help remember oral poetry, but now a poem can sound euphonious without rhyme.

Answer 6

you do not need rhyme but some people rhyme to establish rhythm

Answer 7

a poem can be beautiful w/o rhyming at all...

however, i find it flows better when it does rhyme

Answer 8

it makes it flow.
but there is a type of poetry called free verse which is pretty good.it pretty much just sounds like a person talking to you instead of a poet reciting to you.

Answer 9

It's a neat way of getting a point across!?! A cool & cute way to ask things such as WILL you marry me !! & or a way to bring a smile to someones face !!

Answer 10

you dont have to ryme in poetry. but rymic has rythem and adds flow to your work and somtimes its more enjoyable to read and write but you dont have to ryme in a poem because you can have flow in a poem without ryming words. ryme adds rythm and flow to your work creating a song that is only spoken.